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Fort Hood Memorial; President Obama Speaks at Memorial; School Stabbings in Pennsylvania

Aired April 09, 2014 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the secretary of the Army, the Honorable John M. McHugh.

JOHN MCHUGH, SECRETARY OF THE ARMY: Good afternoon.

Mr. President, Mrs. Obama, sir, ma'am, thank you so much for being here. It means so much to these soldiers, to this Army that their commander in chief and first lady would be here to share in this great sorrow, Deputy Secretary of Defense Fox, Chairman and Mrs. Dempsey, Chief and Mrs. Odierno, distinguished members of Congress, Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst, Lieutenant General and Mrs. Milley, and most of all to the men and women of Fort Hood, soldiers, family members, civilians, our Army family.

We are here again far too soon to mourn more loss all too great. As an Army, we accept this is a dangerous profession. And all who wear this wonderful uniform and pledge to defend our nation and its way of life understand they may one day be called to make that ultimate sacrifice.

But, inside these gates, behind these walls, we expect a much different order of things, a special sense of safety and security, of brotherhood, simply a sense of home. And, yet, for a second time, horrible violence and unspeakable tragedy have breached these walls and torn through our very souls.

And, once more, yet again, we come together to grieve and to remember, to console one another, and to give what strength we possibly can to the victims and to their families.

Sergeant 1st Class Daniel Ferguson, Staff Sergeant Carlos Lazaney- Rodriguez, Sergeant Timothy Owens all knew and lived with and accepted that inherent danger comes with being an American soldier. Each deployed at various times during the longest period of war in the history of this great nation.

That they came back, came back safely, each and every time, only to lose their lives here at home, a place of presumed safety, serves to greatly magnify the senselessness of it all.

Of course, these men weren't just soldiers. They were so much more. They were comrades. They were friends. They were leaders, and, of course, they were sons and husbands and fathers. They are rightly to be long remembered, mourned, and forever celebrated. We still have much to learn about what happened here last week, but, already, we have heard the stories of remarkable courage, extraordinary sacrifice, actions that kept that moment of horror from becoming even greater.

We may never know how many lives were saved or how many others might have been lost, were it not for these heroes, but know this. We are incredibly grateful for their bravery and even more humbled by their selflessness.

One hundred and fifty years ago, President Abraham Lincoln penned a letter to a mother who had lost five sons during the Civil War. The president said: "I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine at a time of grief and loss so overwhelming."

To the families of those we lost, to those recovering from their wounds, I truly wish I had the words that might begin to heal your heart and heal your bodies or express fully the depth of our collective sadness.

Matthew Chapter 5 Verse 4 teaches that blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be blessed. Today, once again, we mourn together, together as a community, as an Army, and as a nation.

Today, all days, we will celebrate these truly remarkable lives, courageous and noble men taken from us far too soon. And we hope and we pray that, in some small way, together, by our memories and through our collective heartache, we will bring some comfort to their families, friends, and comrades in arms.

They will be truly and always missed.

So, thank you for joining us. God bless our fallen heroes, those still struggling toward recovery. God bless the United States of America and this glorious Army, who keeps us free.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States, President Barack Obama.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In our lives, in our joys, and in our sorrows, we have learned that there is a time for every matter under heaven. We laugh and we weep, we celebrate and we mourn. We serve in war, and we prayed for peace. But scripture also teaches that, alongside the temporal, one thing is eternal: Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

Deputy Secretary Fox, General Dempsey, Secretary McHugh, Generals Odierno and Milley, and most of all, the families of the soldiers who have been taken from us, the wounded, those who've returned to duty and those still recovering, and the entire community of Fort Hood, this great place, it is love, tested by tragedy, that brings us together again.

It was love for country that inspired these three Americans to put on the uniform and join the greatest army that the world has ever known. Sergeant First Class Daniel Ferguson, Staff Sergeant Carlos Lazaney- Rodriguez, Sergeant Timothy Owens.

Danny and Carlos joined two decades ago in a time of peace and stayed as the nation went to war. Timothy joined after 9/11, knowing that he could be sent into harm's way. Between them, they deployed nine times. Each served in Iraq. Danny came home from Afghanistan just last year. They lived those shining values -- loyalty, duty, honor -- that keep us strong and free. It was love for the Army that made them the soldiers they were. For Danny, said his fiancee, being in the Army was his life. Carlos, said a friend, was the epitome of what you would want a leader to be in the Army.

Timothy helped counsel his fellow soldiers. Said a friend, he was always the person you could go to talk to.

And it was love for their comrades -- for all of you -- that defined their last moments. As we've heard, when the gunman tried to push his way into that room, Danny held the door shut, saving the lives of others while sacrificing his own. And it's said that Timothy, the counselor even then, gave his life walking toward the gunman, trying to calm him down.

For you, their families, no words are equal to your loss. We are here on behalf of the American people to honor your loved ones and offer whatever comfort we can.

But know this: We also draw strength from you. For even in your grief, even as your heart breaks, we see in you that eternal truth, love never ends.

To the parents of these men, as a father, I cannot begin to fathom your anguish, but I know that you poured your love and your hopes into your sons. I know that the men and soldiers they became, their sense of service and their patriotism, so much of that came from you. You gave your sons to America, and just as you will honor them always, so, too, will the nation that they served.

To the loves of their lives, Timothy's wife, Billie, and Danny's fiancee, Kristen, these soldiers cherished the Army, but their hearts belonged to you, and that's a bond that no earthly power can ever break. They've slipped from your embrace, but know that you will never be alone, because this Army and this nation stands with you for all the days to come.

To their children, we live in a dangerous world, and your fathers served to keep you safe and us safe. They knew you have so much to give to our country that you'd make them proud.

Timothy's daughter, Lori (ph), already has. Last Wednesday night, she posted this message online. "I just want everyone to think for a moment. Love your family," she said, "because you never know when they're going to be taken from you. I love you, Daddy."

To the men and women of Fort Hood, it has already been mentioned part of what makes this so painful is that we've been here before. This tragedy tears a wound still raw from five years ago. Once more, soldiers who survived foreign war zone were struck down here at home where they're supposed to be safe.

We still do not yet know exactly why, but we do know this. We must honor their lives, not in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. We must honor these men with a renewed commitment to keep our troops safe, not just in battle, but on the homefront, as well.

In our open society and at vast bases like this, we can never eliminate every risk, but as a nation, we can do more to help counsel those with mental health issues, to keep firearms out of the hands of those who are having such deep difficulties.

As a military, we must continue to do everything in our power to secure our facilities and spare others this pain. We must honor these men by doing more to care for our fellow Americans living with mental illness, civilian and military.

Today, four American soldiers are gone, four Army families are devastated. As commander-in-chief, I'm determined that we will continue to step up our efforts to reach our troops and veterans who are hurting, to deliver to them the care that they need, and to make sure we never stigmatize those who have the courage to seek help finally.

And finally, we must honor these men by recognizing that they were members of a generation that has borne the burden of our security in more than a decade of war. Now our troops are coming home and by the end of this year our war in Afghanistan will finally be over.

In an era when fewer Americans know someone in uniform, every American must see these men and these women, our 9/11 generation, as the extraordinary citizens that they are.

They love their families. They excel at their jobs. They serve their communities. They are leaders. And when we truly welcome our veterans home, when we show them that we need them not just to fight in other countries, but to build up our own, that our schools and our businesses, our communities and our nation, will be more successful, and America will be stronger and more united for decades to come.

Sergeant First Class Daniel Ferguson, Staff Sergeant Carlos Lazaney- Rodriguez, Sergeant Timothy Owens, like the 576 Fort Hood soldiers who have given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, they were taken from us much too soon. Like the 13 Americans we lost five years ago, their passing shakes our soul.

And in moments such as this, we summon once more what we've learned in these hard years of war. We reach within our wounded hearts. We lean on each other. We hold each other up. We carry on. And with God's amazing grace, we somehow bear what seems unbearable.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. May God watch over these American soldiers. May he keep strong their families whose love endures. And may God continue to bless the United States of America with patriots such as these.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, Staff Sergeant Cheryl Reese from the 1st Cavalry Division will sing "Amazing Grace."

(SINGING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Let's begin with what happened this morning in Pennsylvania, because we now have more information, new details about this bloody attack this morning at a high school -- this is just outside of Pittsburgh -- that left 20 people injured and a student, a 16-year-old, in custody.

The weapons? Two knives. And this rampage started shortly after 7:00 this morning at Franklin Regional High School. This is Murrysville, Pennsylvania. The suspect, a sophomore at the school all of 16 years of age, he allegedly went from classroom to classroom through the hallways stabbing anyone in his way, before he stopped, was taken down and taken into custody.

Some of the very young victims had to be airlifted to the hospital, their injuries described as life-threatening, in fact, three teenagers wounded so badly, they had to undergo surgery.

And last hour, I talked to a student at this high school. His name is Matt DeCesare. He described what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT DECESARE, STUDENT: First, I saw like one or two students come out, and they appeared to be covered in blood.

But then I saw some more teachers pulling a couple more students out. And the one -- it looked like we -- I think we had a lacrosse game scheduled for today. So, the students were dressed up in their dress clothes. And he had white pants on, being dressed up for the lacrosse game.

And his pants were just covered in blood. And it was truly terrifying. I noticed that the teachers right away, they came up with this -- what I thought was a heroic idea and just a great reaction, was they asked the students to pass in their hoodies if possible.

And so everyone around me, we all took our hoodies off and handed them to the teachers to use as kind of tourniquets to stop the bleeding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was what Matt DeCesare saw this morning.

I also talked to another student, young woman who had some classes, two classes with the suspect. And here is how she described him to me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIA MEIXNER, STUDENT: He is really -- he's kind of quiet and he keeps to himself.

He was never mean to anyone or, like, disliked anyone. And I don't think anyone really disliked him, but he didn't talk to that many people.

And I never saw him with a particular group of people that he hung out with or anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's take you now to that scene just outside that school.

Pamela Brown is joining me live.

And, Pamela, it is way too early to begin talking motive, so let's just begin with, what more have you learned in the hour-plus that you have arrived there?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's becoming increasingly clear, Brooke, that it was just a scene of chaos and confusion when the stabbing spree occurred, even before classes started at Franklin Regional High School.

In fact, some of the students wounded say they didn't understand what was going on. They didn't see the attacker coming or going. They couldn't identify him. All of the sudden, according to doctors, those that were wounded just say they felt pain and they didn't know what had happened.

And then we're hearing that from other students as well. They just heard screams. They saw blood. They didn't know what was unfolding. One student said she thought a fight was breaking out. She saw a student on the ground, and she said that's when she saw the attacker holding a knife.

And according to the police chief, Brooke, we have learned that the suspect in this case, a male sophomore, 16 years old, who we are not naming because he is a juvenile, was wielding two knives at the time of the shooting (sic) spree.

And it all lasted, according to witnesses, for about five minutes. They say that he was just going around and stabbing whoever went by him. He was going from classroom to classroom, stabbing people in the hallways.

In fact, we have learned that either a student or someone else in the school pulled a fire alarm, and that helped evacuate the students, according to the police chief. There were several heroes, quick- thinking people in the school that helped save lives, according to the officials.

Of course, there was one female student who helped put pressure on the wound of another student, and a doctor says that that perhaps saved that student's life. And then we also heard about the assistant principal who actually lived right down the road from the suspect, who apparently tackled the attacker and prevented further injuries in the stabbing spree.

We know, Brooke, that the -- the suspect was treated for minor injuries to his hand, and he is back at the police station being questioned. A thorough investigation is under way. The FBI is helping with that, trying to figure out why he did this.

BALDWIN: As they figure out the why, Pamela, let's talk about some of these victims here.